Reincarnation
by Sarryn
Summary: No one ever said reincarnation would be easy. But when you're reborn with the wrong gender it's time to take the universe to task. Things only get worse when you have to deal with having both a girl and boy personality in the same body.
1. Introductions Are Necessary

"Carrot, get your butt out of bed." The young, black-haired boy wheeled back as the lumped up blankets suddenly writhed and seemed to explode with a tangle of arms and legs. At first glance one might feel a stab of fright, believing the seething mass of blankets to be a hitherto unknown form of life, but then one would realize that was silly and go on with life. From the depths of the seemingly living comforter a rather vivid litany of curses could be heard. Omi grinned, picked up a shoe amid the ever increasing junk on the floor, and threw it at the blankets.  
  
"Crap! I'm so gonna kill you, Onion-brain," the blankets declared. Moments later a tousled head of black-hair appeared, and after that a sleepy and annoyed face. The girl blinked blearily at the grinning face of her younger sibling. "What the hell do you want? It's too early."  
  
"It's twelve thirty. You've been sleeping forever."  
  
"Shut up, Onion-breath. It's Saturday and I don't have to do anything." Her head disappeared under the covers again and she turned her back to him. The boy picked up another shoe and lobbed at his sister's unprotected back.  
  
"What is it, Onion-butt?" The girl pulled down the covers and glared with baleful menace at her younger sibling. "Why don't you go chase some girls, or something?"  
  
"Oh and you don't chase the boys? You're such a loser, Carrot."  
  
"I told you not to call me that!"  
  
"Mom always calls you that. Why can't I?" the boy demanded.  
  
"Because you suck, Onion-feet."  
  
"Mom wants us downstairs now, Carrot," Omi, declared with a grin.  
  
"I told you not to call me that!"  
  
The boy stuck out his tongue and fled the room in front of a barrage of teen magazines thrown by his enraged sister.  
  
* * *  
  
Kauri stumbled down the stairs, of which there seemed to be more every morning, and wandered with aimless intent towards the kitchen with the air of someone who has looked into the depths of eternity and not cared much. She held onto her loose pajama pants with one hand, as the other opened the refrigerator so she could decide if anything looked edible. After several moments of perusing the selection, she closed the door and turned around. She found her brother and mother regarding her with copious amounts of amusement.  
  
"What?" she demanded plopping down in a nearby chair.  
  
"How long were you planning on sleeping, Carrot-chan?" her mother demanded as she fixed several bento boxes. She hated that nickname, Carrot, but she couldn't very well tell her mother that. It had all started one Easter, her and Omi's dad had been alive then, when she fell into a bucket of orange food dye while trying to color her egg. Ever since then her mother had called her Carrot, as did her brother, but he most likely didn't remember why.  
  
"Until I woke up," Kauri replied, scratching her head. A muttered "loser" came from the direction of her brother, but a glare prevented any further remarks. Her mother shook her head and placed the lid on the last bento.  
  
"I have been thinking of moving back home," she announced suddenly. Her two children regarded with similar looks of comedic bewilderment. Both knew she had never considered any place but Japan as a home. Personally they preferred the US for the simple reason that they didn't know any Japanese.  
  
"What?" Omi shrieked.  
  
"You can't. What about us?" Kauri cried suddenly alert. The older women blinked in confusion. The nostalgic serenity the thought of her 'home' always brought was swiftly fading.  
  
"What you mean?" The two children flinched. They were both intimately aware that whenever their mother forgot to speak in her overly proper English, she was royally upset.  
  
"Nothing," they muttered in unison.  
  
"Then it is settled. I will call my sister on Monday."  
  
"Wait, how long have you planned this?" the girl demanded slamming her fists on the table. There was no way she was going to throw away everything she knew because her mother wanted to go 'home'. She had a life too. And what about Omi, the Onion-freak? He would probably have an even harder time in a new country.  
  
"My sister, Miyuki, invited me back shortly after your father's accident."- she always referred to their father's death as his 'accident'-"But I decided I would try to make a living here."  
  
"So what changed?"  
  
"Omi-chan, please go outside now." The boy jerked in surprise when he found the focus of his mother settle upon him.  
  
"What? Why?"  
  
"Omi."  
  
"Yes, mom." Noisily he pushed back the chair and stomped indignantly from the room. Both females watched the boy leave before turning back to each other.  
  
"So what brought this on, mom?" The girl was alarmed to see a sudden blush sweep across her mother's cheeks. Suddenly twenty years dropped from her lined face and she looked like an embarrassed, young girl. Kauri had a sinking feeling about the whole situation.  
  
"My sister has informed me that one of my old friends is newly divorced and he-"  
  
"This is about a guy? What's wrong with the men here? Why do you have to go to another country to find one?"  
  
"Kauri," her mother barked sharply. The girl gulped and sat down quietly. "I stay here so my children have good American education. I not want to live off sister's charity. I." She paused a moment to calm down. "I did not want to go back and impose upon my sister. I can support two children easier here than in Japan, but my friend and I had this agreement before we both got married. If we ever found ourselves single and with children then we would marry.  
  
"My sister called me a week ago and told me that he has gotten a divorce. I have thought upon this matter for a week and I have decided to move back."  
  
"And what about Omi and me? What are we supposed to do? We don't even know Japanese," Kauri persisted obstinately. The older woman tossed several pamphlets onto the table. The girl picked on up and choked. "'Learn Japanese in two months'? 'Japanese made easy'? 'Japanese: Classes for beginners'? What is this?"  
  
"Your lessons start tomorrow afternoon, Omi-chan's too."  
  
"And what about Omi? He's the 'man' of the house; he has been since dad died. Shouldn't he have some say in this?"  
  
"He may be the man of the house, but I am his mother." And that was all she would say of the subject.  
  
"And just when are you planning to move?"  
  
"As soon as school is over." The girl sought out the calendar in the room and did a quick calculation. "That's in three months. You need more time than that to sell a house and do stuff like that."  
  
"Perhaps we should start soon, yes?" her mother remarked with a remarkably cheerful smile.  
  
"Is he cute at least?"  
  
"You will see, Carrot-chan."  
  
* * *  
  
"Change of plans." The siblings let the currently empty boxes fall to the ground, and stared with mouths gaping at their mother. They looked at the envelope she was waving about in her hand and the slightly embarrassed, but happy smile on her face.  
  
"He has decided to come here instead."  
  
"What?" Kauri demanded leaning against a wall. Around her feet various packaging materials lay strewn and crinkled with the slightest movement on her part.  
  
"Did we just do all this packing for nothing?" Omi cried sitting down.  
  
"Apparently yes. My sister neglected to tell me that he had decided to come over here, but I just received his letter. He thought I already knew. This is a bit embarrassing."  
  
"And just when is he coming?" the girl demanded wiping sweat from her forehead and smearing dust across instead.  
  
"He should arrive during the afternoon of your last day of school, Carrot- chan."  
  
"So he'll be here in a month? Why that long?" Omi demanded as he began popping some bubble-wrap.  
  
"He has to settle his affairs there. That reminds me, I have to call the real-estate agent and the movers. While I do that, you two unpack the boxes."  
  
"Does that mean we don't have to take those Japanese classes anymore?" Omi asked hopefully.  
  
"Of course not, you should learn the language of our guests, as it is only polite to do so."  
  
* * *  
  
"I don't want to go home. I don't want to go home." The black-haired girl banged her head against her desk in time with her chant. Several classmates paused to stare at her while the rest continued to pack up their stuff for summer vacation. Those that had paused soon became disinterested, as it proved that the girl wasn't going to anything else that might be considered interesting and therefore worth watching.  
  
"What's the matter, Kauri?" a soft voice asked by her elbow. She stopped abusing her head to answer. She met her friend's worried eyes behind his large glasses.  
  
"As soon as I go home my life will be over," she moaned laying her head on the desk.  
  
"Is this about your mom's friend?" Tiran asked with sympathy.  
  
"Yeah, he's gonna be there when I get back."  
  
"That sucks. I could walk home with..."  
  
"Hey, is that Kyle? He has a tan already!" Kauri exclaimed as she leapt from her desk and plastered herself against the window. She waved enthusiastically at the handsome senior walking past. The guy ignored her and continued on. "He's always doing that. Must think he's too good for me. That jerk."  
  
"Kauri..." Tiran rapped the boy-crazy girl across the head and dragged her back from the window.  
  
"That hurt," the girl complained as she rubbed her head.  
  
"You deserved it," Tiran replied primly. "Now what are you going to do about your problem at home?" The girl scratched her head and cracked her neck.  
  
"I'm not going home. Wanna get a latte?"  
  
"S-Sure." Kauri regarded her lightly blushing friend with interest.  
  
"Are you okay?"  
  
"L-Let's go." The boy grabbed her hand and pulled her from the classroom. The girl barely had time to grab her backpack.  
  
* * *  
  
"Darling!" Kauri choked on her mocha latte and ended up spraying a good portion of it across the table and onto the boy across from her. Tiran's attention was torn between removing the brown stains from his clothing and trying to help his friend escape the ravenous clutches of his older sister.  
  
"Get off of me, Chocolatte. I don't like you that way. I don't like girls that way period!" the girl shrieked, desperately trying to get the clinging female off of herself.  
  
"Sister," Tiran hissed in crimson embarrassment. "You're making a scene." The redheaded girl paid no heed to her younger brother and continued to cuddle the struggling Kauri.  
  
"What are you two on a date?" The redheaded boy blushed deeply and started to stutter a denial. "Good. Darling, I heard all about your problem at home and I just want to tell you that if you need a shoulder to cry on then I'll be there for you."  
  
"I-I'll keep that in mind." The girl finally managed to free herself and kept a careful distance between her and her admirer. Her cheeks heated as she caught the many odd glances people were giving her little group. She really wished Tiran's sister would desist from her amorous attacks. They had been friends up until the eighth grade when Chocolatte had decided that she wanted to be more than just friends. Kauri put up with her because she still thought of the older girl as a friend, a strange friend, and she didn't want to offend Tiran.  
  
"I think I should get home or my mom'll be madder than she probably already is," the girl told her companions with a distraught shrug. Chocolatte emitted a shriek of sympathy and promptly threw her arms around the black- haired girl. With a sigh Kauri struggled towards the door of the cafe, ignoring her clinger-on. Tiran followed uncertainly behind, making unhappy little noises and trying to avoid the puzzled stares of passersby.  
  
"Oh my god. That guy is so hot! Hey, dude, over here!"  
  
"Darling, what are you doing?"  
  
Tiran sighed and pretended to be invisible.  
  
* * *  
  
A leaden sky battled with the determination of a summer afternoon and won. Gleefully the slate-gray clouds hurled their liquid burden onto the mostly unsuspecting and wholly unprepared passersby below. Grumbling angrily, summer retreated for the time being and plotted its revenge, of which a temperature in the upper nineties featured a key role and possibly a drought for good measure. That would certainly teach that pesky sky a thing or two.  
  
Kauri stood at the driveway of her house and contemplated the water droplets striking her head. First she attempted to count how many hit her and, failing that, tried to determine exactly how much water her T-shirt would hold. She did all of this in order to hold off the inevitable confrontation with her maybe-future father in law and his son. Yes, she had just found out about her 'new' sibling a week before hand. Suffice it to say it had caused a great row between her brother and she. Neither had wanted their mother and her 'friend' in the same room, but by the same token neither wanted to share a room. Kauri, being a girl, had won and Omi had to share his room with the son while the man took the guestroom.  
  
By the time she had trudged the eight feet to the front door, her T-shirt had exceeded its maximum water retaining capacity and the liquid dribbled off despondently. Another couple of minutes found her standing with her hand around the knob and a look that fluctuated between determination and cowardice on her damp face. Finally she screwed up her courage, straightened her shoulders, and decided to run over to Tiran's house, even if his sister was a little crazy. Unfortunately the door swung open before she could take the appropriate amount of steps away.  
  
"Kauri," her mother exclaimed in surprise and barely restrained anger. The girl knew she was in trouble whenever her mother dropped the pet names and terms of endearment like '-chan'.  
  
"I got caught in the rain," she explained with a look and an attitude to match that said she knew how lame she sounded. "And I met some hot guys..."  
  
"Oh, wonderful!"-Kauri blinked in confusion-"Come inside before you catch your death. Hurry up now, Carrot-chan. Oh my, you are soaking wet. Go upstairs and change. You can meet our guests after you dry off and change into something warm." Her mother smiled with forced cheerfulness and shoved her bewildered older child towards the stairs.  
  
"But I..."  
  
"Hurry now. We do not want to keep our guests waiting long." The force behind her mother's pushes increased, revealing her anger, until the girl nearly tripped as she tried to speed up.  
  
"Weird," she muttered as she climbed the stairs and listened to the strangely cheerful voice of her mother. Even with her door shut she could hear her mother's overly loud laugh and an answering one of a masculine nature. Her mother sounded.different, more animated perhaps. The girl didn't know whether she approved or not. She had a nagging doubt that had to do with whether or not her mother was betraying her father. Besides what kind of relationship did her mother and that man, Mr. Matsuyama, have before she had met Kauri and Omi's father and moved to the US. It didn't sound, if the raucous laughter was any indication, like they were, or had been, just 'friends'.  
  
"Weird," she repeated as she pulled off her wet shirt and tossed in the general direction of the clothes hamper, but, like so many of its comrades before, it fell decidedly short. The rest of her clothing soon followed, all falling short of the intended destination. Cursing the cold and the messiness of her room, not that she had the slightest inclination to clean it up, she began a frantic search for clothing; she had already acquired the necessary undergarments, of which no more needs to be said. Finally she managed to wrestle a pair of jeans from an overstuffed dresser and a T- shirt from the stack of clean laundry by the door; she had been too lazy to put it away.  
  
Finally dressed, she navigated a floor made treacherous by CD cases, clothing, shoes, books and other such objects. The door proved another impediment and she was then forced to clear an arc of the floor, which would simply fill in again once she closed the door. And to think it had only taken a month for the room to look the same as it had been for the past...well, she really couldn't remember a time when walking through her room wasn't an adventure.  
  
At the top of the stairs she paused, one foot hovering in the air in preparation for alighting upon the first step. The voices of the adults barreled up the stairs and dragged up a queasy feeling in her stomach. She had the irrational sense that some great, world devouring creature awaited her at the bottom and if she started to descend then there would be no turning back, the waiting maw the only option. Something important would change and she wasn't sure she was ready for that.  
  
* * *  
  
  
  
From S-girl:  
  
I hope this fic isn't too confusing for you all. Most of the characters from SH, both manga and anime, will be included, but their names will either be different (Check out the knick names) or tweaked. I wonder if anyone can guess who each character is. So they've all been reincarnated, but there has been a slight error and not all of them are the way they were before, i.e. some have switched genders. There will be OOCness because the characters have grown up in a completely different environment than that of the original series, plus some of them aren't even the same gender as before, as was mentioned above. It's all about open-mindedness.  
  
Anyway, I hope you liked it. So please review, and I would appreciate it if you restrained yourself from flaming me. I have my reasons for this, but for now they're a secret. However, if you absolutely must flame me or suffer a horrible demise, then send all flames to this address: DarknessOrchid@aol.com . Not my address on my profile, but I check this one more often.  
  
Much love. 


	2. Girl or Boy?

No monster or denizen of hell reared its ugly, pestilential head to devour her. Kauri felt a fleeting disappointment. If she had been eaten, then she wouldn't have to face her new family. She didn't want a new family. She was perfectly happy, sort of, with her current family. It was just like adults to make decisions without the consent of the one's who would be most affected: the children. Besides, no matter how much she complained, she was very much a child; okay, a seventeen year old child, but still a child nonetheless. If she had had the nerve, she would've stamped her foot and thrown a fit on the floor. 

"Kauri?" She flinched at the decidedly angry tone creeping into her mother's otherwise restrained voice. She had really toed the line this time. Well, nothing to do but face the dragon, and hopefully live to tell the tale. With that reassuring thought she took the first step.

"One small step for girl-kind," she muttered. Thirteen more steps found her at the bottom. Still no monster, damn. Instead she found her mother anxiously wringing the hem of her knit sweater and tapping her foot impatiently. 

"Come here," the woman hissed beckoning to the hesitant girl. 

"I'm coming." Her diminutive mother grabbed her arm when she didn't move fast enough. With a none-too gentle shove her mother propelled her into the living room. She stumbled to a stop before a well-groomed man in a dark blue suit. He looked startled for a moment then smiled pleasantly. 

"Konnichiwa, Kauri-san." She blinked at him stupidly. Frantically her mind rushed through the catalogue of foreign languages in her memory. She knew she was dealing with a greeting. Now she just had to remember which language…

"Hola…"—a sharp elbow jabbed her back. Right, Japanese—"Con Chihuahua?" Her mother's gusty sigh informed her that she had effectively mangled the Japanese language. In fact, she was still speaking garbled Spanish. This meeting wasn't going well for the distraught girl. 

"'With Chihuahua'?" Omi demanded with a snicker. If looks could kill, he would have died a thousand times over after that comment. As it was, he only stuck his tongue out in response to her pointed glare. He mouthed 'loser' and settled himself back down in the easy chair. 

Her mother decided to rescue the situation before it exploded and killed them all with awkward embarrassment, or at least Kuari. 

"Kenta-san, this is my daughter, Kauri. Kauri, this is my good friend Matsuyama-san." The girl stared at her mother with veiled consternation. Why was she on a first name basis with the man? Sure he was an old friend, but using his first named seemed disquietingly intimate. She winced. She didn't want to think about her mom getting intimate with anybody.

"Sorry, hello." She performed a jerky bow and silently petitioned God to open a hole straight to hell beneath her feet. God did not oblige her. The man laughed good-naturedly and bowed in return. 

"And this is his son, Marron Matsuyama." Her mother grabbed her by the shoulders and spun her to the left. When equilibrium reasserted itself she once again found her mind blanking on her. 

She had heard her mother say son. She remembered the letter mentioning said son. She didn't see any son. Who she did see was an unnervingly beautiful girl watching her calmly. She turned to look at her mother uncertainly. Her mother made an impatient shooing gesture. She turned back to the 'son'. There was no way in hell someone that beautiful could be a boy. And if 'he' was, well that didn't make her feel any better about her own looks. She would not stand for a guy looking hotter than her. She wouldn't. 

"Good afternoon," the object of her contention said in a soft baritone. Deep brown eyes flecked with garnet and amethyst, drowned her intelligence. Her mind decided that it was having too much difficulty—it hadn't even signed up for this in the first place, thank you very much—and departed for lands unknown. What was left scrambled frantically for something resembling coherence. Failing that, it decided to produce some sort of sound. 

She grunted. 

"I must apologize for my daughter's rude behavior. She seems to be having problems with her speaking ability," her mother exclaimed with forced humor. "I am certain she will feel better after she gets some fresh air." Smiling apologetically at her guests, the woman escorted her daughter to the front door. 

"Can't I just go to my room, or something?" Kauri demanded in a low whisper.

"You may not. You embarrass me in front of important friend. You go outside."

"But it's cold and wet."

"You no care earlier. Out." The door opened scant inches from the girl's nose. Her deceptively small mother propelled her outside. "Stay until you feel less rude." 

"I—"

The door slammed closed with an air finality. 

"Crap!" She stomped to the rickety white porch swing and sat down. She pouted for a few minutes. If I catch cold and die of pneumonia or something, she'll be sorry, she thought huffily. She spent several more minutes imagining her funeral. 

She would be spread out in that gorgeous green dress she had seen in a magazine. The coffin would be of some fine material like mahogany or maybe marble—no, that would be too heavy. But she would have a crypt of entirely white marble with little cherub statues and lots of white roses. Off course everyone would be crying and mourning. Over a thousand people would attend, and every single hot guy would realize what he had missed in not asking her out. Indeed, they would finally realize exactly what they had been missing. 

A cocky smirk curved her lips as she imagined pews (her funeral would take place in some grand cathedral, after all) of hot guys weeping their eyes red and puffy over her cold corpse. That would show Kyle. That would show her mother. That would show her annoying little brother. They'd all feel guilty for not being nicer to her, but it would be too late. 

Besides, she would finally get to see her father again. 

A curious prickling sensation irritated her eyes. She blinked rapidly. Something warm slid down the curve of her cheek. Dammit, she wasn't going to start crying. She hadn't cried since the day her father was buried. Nothing had ever seemed worthy of tears, until now. 

She missed her father terribly, even though he had died when she was quite small. She could still remember the feeling of warm arms rocking her to sleep, and strong hands tossing her into the sky and safely catching her. She hugged herself and sighed. She didn't want a new father. She didn't want a new sibling. 

She just wanted her real father back. She wanted memories where he would be sitting in the front row of her eighth grade play of _Romeo and Juliet_. She even wanted memories of him scolding her for breaking a lamp while playing with her younger brother. She would never have them though. 

The cessation of the rain dragged her from the pit of self-delusional pity she had cast herself into. She blinked blearily at the leaden sky and then turned to stare through the kitchen window, which allowed an observer to see a small sliver of the living room. She could feel the warmth of inside radiating outward. Eagerly she pressed herself against the wood and peered inside. All she could see was the boy-girl siting serenely. She growled lowly. He/she was sitting in her chair. How dare he/she!

She started making faces. She knew she was acting like a little kid, but she didn't care anymore. She was cold and miserable and her entire life had just taken a one-eighty on a freeway of doom. 

Unfortunately she became so engrossed in her petty game that she failed to notice that she was being watched. A pair of dark eyes met hers through the fogged glass. She issued a muffled shriek and flung herself away from the window. 

"Crap. Crap. Crap," she hissed hunkering down in the swing. The boy-girl had seen her. She groaned in embarrassment and slapped her flaming cheeks. What he/she must think of her new stepsister!

Kauri smacked her forehead repeatedly before lying down on the porch swing. Listlessly she set the chair rocking with one sock-clad foot. Back and forth, back and forth she swung. Today was just one huge embarrassment after another. Life sucked, a lot. 

"Excuse me." She froze, looking remarkably like a rabbit facing imminent and inescapable annihilation. Eye wide, mouth open to reveal two rows of teeth, she gaped. A strange noise escaped her constricted throat. She could hear her horrified heartbeat pounding away in her ears. 

"Are you okay?" the boy-girl asked with worry. She jerked upright like a marionette whose string had been pulled. 

"Fine."

"I wish to apologize to you."

"Apologize? Me?"

"Yes. You must have found today overwhelming. I didn't think you were being rude at all."

She cocked her head to one side and regarded him critically.

"Okay." 

He smiled shyly. If she didn't know better, she would say he was acting a bit flustered. Interesting. Well, at least she wasn't the only feeling a bit put out by the whole situation. 

"I'm Kauri, bane of my mother's existence and constant social embarrassment." She thrust her hand out. 

"My name is Marron. I guess you know that already, though."

She shrugged. "Nice to meet you, Marron. Welcome to America. You're really a guy?"

"Thank you, and, yes, I am." He grasped her hand. 

__

"Niisan!"

Kauri jerked her hand away as though Marron had been hiding a red-hot poker in his own hand. She shook it violently, but the disconcerting tingling sensation remained. She looked at him, really looked at him. The most frightening, in the sense of a stampeding herd of elephants, feeling of recognition burned through the pathways of her mind. For a second another scene superimposed itself across her vision. Then it faded and she was left with a vague feeling of unease, and a tingling hand. 

"What the hell?" Marron stared at his own hand as though he had never seen it before and wondered what it was going to do. Experimentally he clenched and unclenched it. 

"That was odd," he observed. "'_Niisan_'? 'Brother'?" He brushed back long strands of black hair and regarded her bemusedly. 

"That's what that word means? Not the car?"

"The 'i' sound was elongated."

"Who's calling who a brother?" she demanded angrily. Like most humans, her automatic response to the shocking or surprising was to cloak herself in misguided anger. 

"I do not know. That was…peculiar."

"Yeah, well, you might be handling disembodied voices just fine, but I'm not."

"There are many things in this world." She rolled her eyes at he quiet words. He searched her face with a bemused smile on his pale face. 

"So, voices aside, you're really a guy?" 

He sighed. "Yes, I assure you that I'm quite male."

"You don't—"

"Many people have voiced similar opinions."

"Because you really…"

"Yes?"

"Look like a girl."

*~*~*

From Sarryn:

This is a fairly random update for a fairly dead story. I wrote this under a spurt of inspiration. Please review if you feel so inclined. 


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